Williams Partners, the company behind the proposed natural gas pipelines in Lancaster, is the subject of an article on Bloomberg.com today. Alex Nussbaum writes:

A probe into safety practices at pipeline operator Williams Cos. (WMB) is being expanded after a natural gas plant fire led to the evacuation of a town in Wyoming last month, the company’s third accident in a year.

While it’s unclear if there are any broader issues, the string of incidents is “unusual” said Dan Tillema, a lead investigator at the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, in an interview yesterday. “With a strong corporate oversight of process safety, it would be very unlikely to have three incidents like this in a 12-month period.”

The CEO of Williams, Alan Armstrong, is quoted as saying:

“It’s been a pretty painful year, frankly, to have a number of incidents occur like this,” he said. “And I would just tell you we are going to be very, very diligent about making sure we understand if there are any common, root causes.”

But it’s hard to believe him, once you read that:

Capital spending on maintenance by Williams Partners has declined in recent years even as its pipeline network expanded, according to company filings.

Clearly, we do not want Lancaster County to be home to this negligent company’s pipelines & infrastructure.